Day: August 8, 2025

Fat Joe is calling out Paramount Global for scrapping the Hip-Hop Awards while still throwing cash at other shows, and he’s not sugarcoating a thing.

During a convo on his “Joe And Jada” show, the Bronx legend sounded off about the network pulling the plug on the BET Hip-Hop Awards and Soul Train Awards, blaming it on corporate greed and what he flat-out called “gentrification.”

“This is a form of gentrification. BET came up as a community station for black people, right? In urban culture. And our man, Bob Johnson, took the check. He sold it. First black billionaire. He sold it, he sold it to Viacom and Paramount, MTV and them, VH1 and them,” Fat Joe explained.

To give that some context, BET got sold to Viacom back in 2001 for about $3 billion. Bob Johnson made history as the first Black billionaire, but that deal shifted BET from a Black-owned platform to a corporate product under Viacom, which later merged with CBS to form Paramount Global.

Now fast-forward to 2025 and BET CEO Scott Mills confirmed the network’s Soul Train and Hip-Hop Awards are on pause, supposedly to “reimagine” the shows for new platforms as cable TV keeps losing steam.

Fat Joe wasn’t buying that. He’s been hosting the BET Hip-Hop Awards for three years running and says he’s seen the budget cuts firsthand.

“Little by little over the years, quietly, they’ve been firing a lot of people behind the scenes in BET and everybody who has something to say, they’ve been firing them. And I know because I’ve been working on the BET Hip-Hop Awards for three years. The budget, not for me, but the budget just kept getting chopped and chopped and chopped,” Fat Joe said.

He pointed out how the VMAs are still getting real money thrown at them, and used Katy Perry’s aerial performance as proof.

“Last year, I debuted my single with Khaled at the VMAs and Katy Perry’s still flying through the air in the VMAs,” Fat Joe said.

Joe says it’s not about him getting paid—it’s about the show not having enough money to actually be creative.

“They [the VMAs] still got the budgets, they got the s###, you know. And so, I think, in the entertainment world, they kept underfunding them and you ain’t got no money to be creative. That’s why you was watching the Ratchet Awards. They ain’t had no bread,” Fat Joe said.

Meanwhile, the real reason behind the cost-cutting was most likely to trim the fat since Paramount just merged with Skydance on Thursday (August 7) in a massive $8.4 billion deal, forming a new company called “Paramount, A Skydance Corporation.”

As part of the shake-up, Paramount was in talks to sell off BET to a group led by Scott Mills for around $1.6 to $1.7 billion. No word yet if BET was sold as part of the merger.

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Florida politician Cory Mills is being accused of some seriously shady behavior by his ex-girlfriend, Lindsey Langston, who also happens to be a reigning Miss United States.

According to a police report Langston filed in July, the Florida congressman allegedly threatened to leak intimate photos and videos of her after their breakup.

Langston pulled up to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office in Florida on July 14 with receipts—texts and Instagram messages—saying Mills threatened not only to post explicit content but also warned her that any guy she dates next could get hurt.

The two were apparently a thing from late 2021 until early 2025. Things ended after Langston saw headlines linking Mills to some alleged sketchy incident in Washington, D.C.—something he says never happened.

Mills is calling the whole situation bogus and says it’s all politics, claiming it’s “an attack from a former primary opponent.”

The case has now been kicked up to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. So far, no charges have been filed, no arrests have been made, and no restraining orders have been issued.

Langston’s accusations are loud, though.

She said Mills made repeated threats through texts and social media, and even went as far as warning her that any future boyfriend could be in danger. She gave all the messages to the cops.

Mills says none of it’s true. He’s brushing it off like it’s all part of some political takedown.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed they passed the case to state investigators, but Mills has not been charged with anything yet.

Langston hasn’t posted much publicly about it since filing the report, but the police docs speak for themselves. She says she felt threatened, violated and scared.

If any of those messages check out, this could get real ugly, real fast.

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Kodak Black might wanna think twice before throwing a party with all his baby mamas in the same room—because his ex, Maranda Johnson, ended up in cuffs over the chaos that broke out.

Johnson, who briefly starred on the reality show “W.A.G.s to Riches,” got arrested this week after cops say she went full demolition mode during a January 15 birthday party at The Manor nightclub in Wilton Manors.

The 23-year-old from Fort Lauderdale is now staring down five felony charges for criminal mischief, according to WPLG 10.

The Wilton Manors Police said the drama kicked off when Kodak Black invited all three of his kids’ mothers—including Johnson—to the same bash.

What could go wrong? Turns out, literally everything.

Police say the women weren’t thrilled to see each other and immediately started beefing. One of them even tried to fight Kodak “three times” inside the club, according to the report.

A witness told police that during the chaos, one of the women’s brothers jumped in, and that’s when things really popped off. “Once (redacted) got involved, so did Kodak Black’s entourage,” cops wrote.

Things got physical real quick. One woman told officers that Johnson “snatched her wig off her head and punched her in the face.”

It didn’t stop with fists either. Cops say a whole bunch of stuff inside the club got wrecked—a printer, a computer monitor, a toilet and even a sink were listed as casualties.

By the time police got there, the crowd had scattered and Johnson was long gone. But they finally caught up with her Thursday at the Broward County courthouse, per jail records.

She’s now sitting in the Broward Main Jail with her bond set at $12,500.

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Amir Earley got snagged by Philly cops while trying to dip out the back door of a house and now he’s the third guy busted in the LGP Qua murder case that’s had the city shook since May.

Early, 21, was hit with murder charges back on May 21 for his alleged role in the killing of the Philadelphia rapper, whose real name was Qidere Johnson. Cops finally caught up with him on August 7 on Reach Street after he tried to sneak out the back of a crib.

The rapper was gunned down on May 11 in the middle of the day near M Street and East Luzerne in the Juniata Park area.

It was around 4:45 P.M. when three dudes rolled up on Qua and his friend. Cops say it was a robbery attempt that went sideways—one of them pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest.

Qua was rushed to Temple Hospital but didn’t make it. He was only 30.

The case moved fast. Police already had two guys—Joshua Thomas-Coleman and Abdul Boyd—both 19, locked up and charged with murder. Early was the last one on the run until his arrest this week.

Detectives believe the motive was Qua’s chains—jewelry that caught the wrong kind of attention. Surveillance footage from the area helped piece together the trio’s movements, and there was a $20,000 reward out for any solid info.

Qua wasn’t just another rapper. He had a rep for using his bars to push peace, uplift the youth and speak on real-life struggles in Philly. They called him the “Voice of the Youth” for a reason.

His death hit hard. The community showed love, and folks like Meek Mill paid tribute. The violence felt extra personal because Qua was one of the few trying to help change things.

LGP Qua wasn’t just an artist, he was a leader trying to make a difference.

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Keke Palmer held back her inner superfan while working alongside Eddie Murphy on the set of The Pickup, a new heist comedy now streaming on Prime Video, choosing professionalism over peppering the comedy legend with questions.

The actress, known for her roles in Scream Queens and Nope, told Entertainment Weekly that she and co-star Pete Davidson made a conscious effort to avoid overwhelming Murphy with curiosity about his decades-long career.

“I asked him questions and stuff, but it was kinda like being on set with the wise sage, so I didn’t want to overdo it,” Palmer said. “Me and Pete talked about that all the time, where it’s like — you want to know so much and you could literally spend every day interviewing him, but you also want to be respectful of the fact that this isn’t an interview and this is his job and we’re at work. So I was really trying to be as professional as possible.”

Palmer, who grew up watching Murphy’s iconic films with her father, said his work holds deep personal meaning. But it wasn’t until the press tour that she felt a deeper connection with the Beverly Hills Cop star.

“After the movie, when you get to spend more time together off-set, obviously, you do get familiar with people, and I think I started to see that Eddie really got me just as much as I got him,” she said. “It’s been really cool because when we were doing press, he said that I reminded him of him. I had no idea that he was watching me, or that he was aware of me, and that really touched me.”

The Pickup, which pairs Murphy’s sharp comedic timing with a new generation of talent, is currently available for streaming on Prime Video.

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